Too few know about a significant Ohio contribution to American
ornithology, "Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of the Birds of Ohio."
You can page through so-so scans of this rare work at
http://archive.org/stream/Illustrationsne1Jone#page/n7/mode/2up  .
Ornithologists as prominent as nineteenth-century expert Elliott Coues
and modern bird illustrators such as David Sibley have highly praised
this work, produced by the Jones family and others of Circleville in 1886.
        The large two-volume work was hand-made, with lithographs etched and
colored, via limestock blocks periodically hauled by horse and wagon to
and from printers in Cincinnati, by a crew of six dedicated women, with
text by Howard Jones. The latter was very familiar with the birds of
Pickaway County, and supplied nests which were accurately and artfully
illustrated by the artists.
        Joy Kiser, at the time the librarian for the Cleveland Museum of
Natural History, became interested in this nearly-forgotten work, and
has written a new book about this curious masterpiece and its creators,
only fewer than a hundred copies of which still exist and sell for
amounts in the six figures. See
http://www.sil.si.edu/ondisplay/nestsandeggs/ .  Kiser's work is being
published
http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Other-Audubon-Joy-Kiser/dp/1616890592 ,
and she will be at the Ohioana Book Fair in Columbus next month
http://www.ohioanabookfestival.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/2012-OBF-Program_web.pdf
  to talk about it. A number of copies are on public view, such as at
the Pickaway County Historical Society, and others periodically are on
display at the Ohio Historical Society and the Cleveland Museum of
Natural History, and probably elsewhere at academic institutions in the
state.
        This fascinating but little-known Ohio ornithological classic, and
monument to feminism in the 19th century, is worth looking into, as is
Kiser's story of its creation.
Bill Whan
Columbus


______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]